07.000 Chapter 7: Reporting what people say or think

Chapter 7: Reporting what people say or think

7.1 Introduction

7.5 Indicating that you are reporting: reporting verbs

7.14 Reporting someone's actual words: quote structures

7.24 Reporting in your own words: report structures

7.26 Reporting statements and thoughts

7.29 Reporting questions

7.36 reporting requests made to the hearer

7.46 Time reference in report structures

7.57 Making your reference appropriate

7.61 Using reporting verbs for politeness

7.64 Avoiding mention of the person speaking or thinking

7.68 referring to the speaker

7.78 objects with reporting verbs

7.82 other verbs used with reported clauses

7.1 Reporting what people say or think

This chapter of the grammar explains the different ways of reporting what people say or think.

7.2

One way of reporting what someone has said is to repeat their actual words.

• 'I don't know much about music,' Judy said.

A sentence like this is called a quote structure.

Instead of reporting Judy's words, the writer could have said, 'Judy said that she didn't know much about music'. This is called a report structure.

Quote structures and report structures both consist of two clauses. The main clause is called a reporting clause. The other clause indicates what someone said or thought.

In a quote structure, this other clause is called the quote.

• 'Have you met him?' I asked.
• 'Of course we can get married,' said Gertrude.

In a report structure, the other clause is called the reported clause.

• He mentioned that he couldn't stand shouting.
• He asked if you would be able to call and see him.
• He intended to give me the money.

Note that the reported clause can be a non-finite clause beginning with a 'to'-infinitive.

7.3

In ordinary conversation, we use report structures much more often than quote structures. This is because we usually do not know, or cannot remember, the exact words that someone has said. Quote structures are mainly used in written stories.

When we report people's thoughts, we almost always use report structures, because thoughts do not usually exist in the form of words, so we cannot quote them exactly. Report structures can be used to report almost any kind of thought.

7.4

Paragraphs 7.5 to 7.13 explain verbs used in reporting clauses. Paragraphs 7.14 to 7.23 explain quote structures. Paragraphs 7.24 to 7.67 explain report structures. Paragraphs 7.68 to 7.77 explain how to refer to the speaker and hearer in a quote structure or report structure. Paragraphs 7.78 to 7.81 explain other ways of indicating what someone says or talks about. Paragraphs 7.82 to 7.94 explain other ways of using reported clauses.